AuthorTopic: Scorsese Harrison Documentary (Read 15264 times)

I had no idea I posted anything about this. I think I must be going senile.

Anyway, I think Scorsese is a class act. I think he idolizes people like George and will treat this film with nothing but respect. I can't wait to see it. But then I may be way wrong. And then I'll just blame it on my early onset of senility.

Don't worry, Paul. They'll have 25 minutes of Formula One racing in there to pad it out.

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All you've got to do is choose love. That's how I live it now. I learned a long time ago, I can feed the birds in my garden. I can't feed them all. -- Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone magazine, May 2007<br />

Scorsese gets on my nerves. I watched one of his films with the commentary, he just TALKS TOO MUCH. He said basically nothing about the movie it was all about him and his story."my idea" this and "my vision" that.I know that's what the director does but I would like some insight to the freakin' movie and actors and funny things that happened on set, not just him talking about a book he read that got him interested in making the film for 4 scenes!

Exclusive, which holds worldwide rights, is shopping the project at Cannes, where Scorsese and Harrison are promoting the doc. There's no domestic distrib yet.

"Living in the Material World" is a production of Scorsese's Sikelia Prods., Olivia Harrison's Grove Street Prods. and Exclusive's Spitfire Pictures documentary label.

Scorsese is fascinated by rock 'n' roll musicians, and has chronicled some of the most iconic artists of the 20th century, including the Band ("The Last Waltz"), the Rolling Stones ("Shine a Light"), Bob Dylan ("No Direction Home: Bob Dylan") and, now, George Harrison.

Scorsese said the former Beatles' life was a remarkable musical and spiritual voyage. He and Olivia Harrison both said George Harrison was always trying to find the balance between the physical and the spiritual, hence the film's title.

"I grew up a Roman Catholic and wanted to become a priest, so it is a subject matter that has never left me. The more you're in the material world, the more the search for serenity," Scorsese said.

Harrison said she spent countless hours pouring through her husband's notes, cassette tapes and photos. Many of those materials have never been made public before.

Film also uses never-before-seen footage in tracing the guitarist and songwriter's life, from his days with the Beatles until his death in 2001. It includes interviews with those closest to him, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Eric Idle, Tom Petty, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector.

Harrison wrote and released songs until his death. One note his widow found: "Goats on a roof."

Project reteams Scorsese, Sinclair and exec producer Margaret Bodde, who worked together on "No Direction Home."

"Living in the Material World" is now being edited by David Tedeschi, who cut both "No Direction Home" and "Shine a Light."

Scorsese said he worked on the doc simultaneously with "Shutter Island," and that working on a nonfiction film and a feature at the same time is a liberating experience. Similarly, he worked on "No Direction" at the same time that he was making "The Aviator."

"In a complicated way, it frees me from the constrictions of a feature. I have a narrative freedom," Scorsese said.

CANNES -- Martin Scorsese swept into the Cap d'Antibes Beach Hotel down the coast from Cannes on Saturday afternoon with George Harrison's widow, Olivia. The two have been collaborating on a documentary about the famous songwriter for the past three years and are finally nearing the end of a long and winding road.

Titled "Living in the Material World: George Harrison," the documentary will take on the whole of the Beatles guitarist's life before, during and after his time in the world's most popular and successful band. Producer Nigel Sinclair of Exclusive Media Group, home of the Spitfire Pictures label that will release the doc, was also on hand to provide background and perspective on the forthcoming project.

"His music is very important to me," Scorsese said of Harrison. "So I was interested in the journey that he took as an artist. The film is an exploration. We don't know. We're just feeling our way through."

Among other things, Scorsese says he related to Harrison's quest for "spirituality," something the filmmaker has explored his whole life, and especially in movies from "Mean Streets" to "Kundun."

"That subject matter has never left me," says Scorsese. "The more you're in the material world, the more there is a tendency for a search for serenity and a need to not be distracted by physical elements that are around you."

"He always said he gave his nervous system for the Beatles," Olivia chimes in. "I'm an outsider on this," says Scorsese, taking on the project from the perspective of a curious fan. He tells the story of one morning getting ready for school at NYU on the Lower East Side in the early '60s, when an AM radio DJ announced that he was going to play the very first stateside single of the Beatles. Scorsese says he heard the song and felt it was the first time U.K. pop could really hold up to American pop music.

Scorsese met Harrison several times, first when he, Jack Nicholson and Robbie Robertson knocked on his door in a frantic moment during the filming of "The Last Waltz" in the late '70s, and then again in the early '90s.

Olivia finally initiated the current project several years ago because she says she had been approached by numerous production companies, including the BBC, looking to make a documentary about Harrison from the moment he died in 2001. She resisted at first because Harrison had always wanted to do his own documentary using his own archive of videos.

Eventually, she realized it "was something that needed to be done," and was pointed to Sinclair, who had produced the Bob Dylan documentary "No Direction Home" that Scorsese directed. But still, it was a traumatic experience for her to dig back through all of that history.

"This is a deeply personal journey for me, it's been excruciating," she says. "I've been archiving for five years -- 35 years, really. Throwing cassettes and letters in drawers, little things and pieces of paper that you find that say, 'Goats on my roof.' You think, What does that mean?"

She says that during the research period, Scorsese would ask for something from 1945, she would dig something up, and then get lost in old letters, drawings, ideas and reveries. Or she'd come across a lost cassette from 1966 with music she had never heard.

"So that's been wonderful, but emotional, too," Olivia says. "But I feel really safe, I feel protected. Marty had a connection with George, and they spent time together. And he's passionate about film and music as George was passionate about music and film."

"This is undertaken, not casually," Scorsese says. "It's a great deal of reticence and thinking."

And juggling, since the director was working on it as he developed and shot "Shutter Island." His editor on the Dylan doc, David Tedeschi, has been working on the Harrison piece as well, and would forge ahead when Scorsese was indisposed on the fiction film. Scorsese notes that their work on the Dylan film stretched from "The Aviator" through to "The Departed."

" 'Shutter Island' took a great deal out of me," Scorsese says. "This was a form of interest and a really good sense of ignorance -- not knowing what you're getting into. I know the level is deep, and I know at some point there's going to be conflicts between the projects. But this is a labor of love, it's not something that has that kind of a deadline."

So Scorsese spent weekends and margins looking at footage and cuts of the Harrison work, and doing research. "Even though it's complex and it's hard to do, in a very complicated way it frees me from the strictures of the feature and makes me think -- I hope -- a little more clearly about the feature," Scorsese says of the process. "Because there's something in these films that had a narrative freedom to them, and it's something that the features may be going this way, and the nonfiction films are going this way, and somehow you hope they interweave."

But at this point, Scorsese says that they are moving toward a 2011 release date and nearly have finished a final cut of the second of three parts of the movie.

Olivia and Scorsese acknowledge that their film will feature never-before-seen footage and personal recordings of Harrison's, as he saved everything and left a ton of material. Scorsese says that all of that personal music led the way to the nonchronological exploration they wanted to take.

"Ultimately, we're trying to have the development of his own music tell the story, if we can," he says. "And the images that he shot, that [Olivia] shot, a lot of this is telling the story. There are some famous bits and some very interesting new material."

Olivia adds: "I think it's not only about George Harrison, but about how a person moves through life and deals with his own life. And it was a pretty intense life for a young person."

In addition to his achievements as a master filmmaker and preservationist, Scorsese has now made a number of films -- "Shine a Light," "Last Waltz," "No Direction Home," "The Blues" (he was even an editor on the "Woodstock" concert film) -- that he is personally building a library of the history of rock.

"We certainly haven't done it intentionally," Scorsese says. "We never really intended to make a chronicle of rock music. But the music inspires so much of what I do with my fiction films that they both seem to be blending now. They seem to be interweaving."

The document is built as a cinema, and the Harrison family will provide material from the vast archives. Interviews and early production will begin later this year, and the film will take several years to complete.

The document is built as a cinema, and the Harrison family will provide material from the vast archives. Interviews and early production will begin later this year, and the film will take several years to complete.

Sorry but the film is finished, its just at editing stage. All the interviews, content etc has been done. Should be out next year.

A new George Harrison documentary featuring home movies, interviews and never before seen material will make its debut in October on HBO, the cable channel said Wednesday.

Produced by Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese and Harrison’s widow Olivia, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”, traces the life of the late Beatle from his musical beginnings in Liverpool to his fame with the Fab Four in the 1960s as well as his work as a philanthropist and filmmaker.

Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001 in Los Angeles at the age of 58. Although often referred to as the quiet Beatle, he wrote hit songs like “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something” for The Beatles before playing with the 1980s supergroup, Traveling Wilburys.

The 3-1/2 hour documentary includes interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Eric Clapton, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector and record producer George Martin, among others. It will air in two parts on HBO on Oct. 5 and 6, and be released in Britain on Oct. 10 on DVD and Blu-Ray in three editions – DVD, Blu-ray and DVD Double play (DVD/ BD combi pack), and a beautifully packaged DVD / Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition, which includes an exclusive CD of previously unheard tracks from George Harrison, and a book of photography to accompany the film. through Lionsgate, Lionsgate UK said .

Scorsese, whose music projects include “The Last Waltz” in 1978 about the final concert of The Band, and the Rolling Stones documentary “Shine a light”, said he had long been a fan of Harrison.

“So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it. Spending time with Olivia (Harrison), interviewing so many of George’s closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music — it was a joy, and an experience I’ll always treasure,” Scorsese said in a statement.

A book accompanying the documentary will be published in late September featuring photos, letters, diaries and other memorabilia from the personal archives of Olivia and George Harrison.

I can't wait to hear what it be like I do remember a year after he died they were planning on making on George film with interviews with his family & friends but I think it was scraped because it was too soon.

Martin Scorsese's documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World will be screened in North America on 5 and 6 October 2011, and will be released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on 10 October.

The film will be accompanied by a book of the same name by George Harrison's widow Olivia. Due to be published by Abrams Books in September, it will contain photographs, letters, diary entries and memorabilia that tells the story of his life.

Scorsese's film features interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Martin, Yoko Ono, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Phil Spector among others. Much of the footage is rare or previously unseen, and includes previously unreleased shots of The Beatles.

"George was making spiritually awake music - we all heard and felt it - and I think that was the reason that he came to occupy a very special place in our lives. So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it. Spending time with Olivia, interviewing so many of George's closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music - it was a joy, and an experience I'll always treasure." - Martin Scorsese

It will be shown by HBO in North America over two nights. The TV network describes Living In The Material World as "deeply moving and touches each viewer in unique and individual ways".

George Harrison died on 29 November 2001, and the documentary and book are part of a 10-year commemoration of his passing.

Here's the full press release:

"New York — HBO has acquired the North American broadcast rights to Martin Scorsese's GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, which will debut in two parts — on October 5 and October 6, 2011 — exclusively on HBO.

London — Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK announced that it will be releasing the film in the UK on 10th October 2011 in three editions – DVD, Blu-ray and DVD Double play (DVD/ BD combi pack), and a beautifully packaged DVD / Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition, which includes an exclusive CD of previously unheard tracks from George Harrison, and a book of photography to accompany the film.

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD focuses the imaginative and inspired eye of one of cinema's most pre-eminent filmmakers on one of the world's most influential men. The film takes viewers on the musical and spiritual voyage that was George Harrison's life, much of it told in his own words. The result is deeply moving and touches each viewer in unique and individual ways.

Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese traces Harrison's life from his musical beginnings in Liverpool through his life as a musician, a seeker, a philanthropist, and filmmaker. Scorsese weaves together interviews with Harrison and his closest friends, performances, home movies, and photographs. Much of the material in the film has never been seen (or heard) before. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind and soul of one of the most talented artists of his generation and a profoundly intimate and affecting work of cinema.

The film was produced by Scorsese (through his Sikelia Productions banner), Olivia Harrison (through her Grove Street Pictures banner) and Nigel Sinclair (through Exclusive's documentary label, Spitfire Pictures). Margaret Bodde served as the film's executive producer and the film was edited by David Tedeschi (who previously worked with Scorsese, Bodde and Sinclair on the Grammy Award-winning NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN and with Scorsese and Bodde on the Rolling Stone concert film SHINE A LIGHT and PUBLIC SPEAKING). Scott Pascucci also served as an executive producer for Grove Street.

Scorsese comments, "Like so many millions of people, I first came to know George through the music, which was the soundtrack of our world. The Beatles' music, those beautifully lyrical guitar breaks and solos, those unforgettable songs of George's, like "I Me Mine" or "If I Needed Someone," and the images, in magazines, on album covers, the TV appearances, the newsreel footage, the Richard Lester movies; and then there was the world after the Beatles, when George and his music seemed to open up and flower. I will never forget the first time I heard All Things Must Pass, the overwhelming feeling of taking in all that glorious music for the first time. It was like walking into a cathedral. George was making spiritually awake music – we all heard and felt it – and I think that was the reason that he came to occupy a very special place in our lives. So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it. Spending time with Olivia, interviewing so many of George's closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music – it was a joy, and an experience I'll always treasure."

Olivia Harrison notes, "Martin Scorsese's intuition towards George was evident the first time we met to discuss this project. He sensed what George was about: his music, his strong beliefs, his art, his place in the Beatles story, and his extraordinary life afterwards. Marty's wonderful film has found all of that and more."

"This film was an extraordinary journey for all involved and it has been a sheer pleasure working with Martin Scorsese and Olivia Harrison to bring the amazing story and legacy of George Harrison to life," adds Sinclair.

Additionally, in late September, Abrams Books will publish Olivia Harrison's George Harrison: Living in the Material World, a personal archive of photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia from George's life that reveals the arc of his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool, to the astonishment of the Beatles years, to his days as an independent musician and bohemian squire. The book release is intended to coincide with the release of Scorsese's film."